This book is of particular interest because it shows the presence of the Yogacara (Mind Only) school in Tibet. It is well known that the Madhyamaka school flourished in Tibet, but less well known that Yogacara doctrines were also studied and practiced. The former school stresses the inexpressible ultimate; the latter, the natural luminosity of mind. This is probably the best introduction to the distinctive eight consciousnesses systems of Yogacara. It also makes understandable the different meanings of the profound alaya-vijnana (the storehouse consciousness, or basis of all) that is the pivotal eighth consciousness in their system.For those interested in meditation, the author's introduction explains how earlier Tibetan meditation (the method of allowing mind to look into its own pure nature) uses the eight-consciousness system.The book is remarkable in that it addresses the problem of how a person trapped within the confines of a limited and deluded personality can transcend that state and attain liberation. By his inquiry into the process of transformation, Tsong kha pa makes profound comments which will interest those who ask whether enlightenment is a gradual process or a sudden breakthrough.

Gareth Sparham, is unusual in that he is a respected academic and also has been a Buddhist monk for twenty years. He presently teaches at Langara College in Vancouver, B.C. He is an accomplished Sanskritist whose work on the Indian Buddhist writer Haribhadra has been published by Motilal Banarsidass. He spends part of his time in Dharmsala, India.

Abbreviations

Preface

Technical Note

Introduction

The general context for the arising of the alaya-vijnana doctrine Origins of the Yogacara alaya-vijnana doctrine Samkhya and Yogacara The alaya-vijnana within the eight-consciousness model Tsong kha pa's exegesis Life of Tsong kha pa Problems of interpretation in Tsong kha pa's earlier and later works Early teachers and date of the textKun gzhi in Tsong kha pa's later worksKun gzhi in Tibet before Tsong kha paKun gzhi at the time of Tsong kha pa Concluding Remarks

Translation

1. Introduction: Origins of the Mind Only Doctrine

2. Alaya-vijnana as Basis

Residual impressions as objective support Nature of the alaya-vijnana Five mental factors Etymology of alaya-vijnana

3. Alaya-vijnana as Seed

Mechanics of seed information Divisions of vasana Relation of the seeds and basis Characteristics of vasana

4. Seeds of Deliverance

Derivation of the word alaya Cessation fo alaya-vijnana

5. Definition of Klista-manas

6. Proofs of Alaya-vijnana

Eight proofs Discursus

7. Proofs of Klista-manas

8. Two Refutations and Final Remarks

Refuting a set of nine consciousnesses Refuting a set of one consciousness Concluding Remarks